Witnesses: Plane 'Disintegrated In Midair'

Eyewitnesses to the crash of a Forney F-1 Aircoupe near Sebring, FL on Saturday said the plane suffered an in-flight break-up as it flew over Golf Hammock Country Club, scattering debris over the course and nearby homes.

Golf Hammock resident Mark McLean said, "The engine was making a sputtering sound. Some small parts came off first, then the wing came off and the tail shot off. It just disintegrated in midair."

Lt. Jess Purvis of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office said the plane took off from the Avon Park airport sometime Saturday morning and was seen "orbiting (Golf Hammock) when it came down." The identity of the owner of the plane was not yet known, he said.

Lt. Tim Lethbridge of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office identified the victims as pilot James Weener, 70, of Sebring, and passenger James Richer, 46, a resident of Golf Hammock. "Richer volunteers to help at the retirement village and was being taken on a pleasure airplane ride as a thank you," Lethbridge said.

Blair Wadick, who was playing golf with local resident Dale Conrod, said, "We heard the engine revving back and forth, then the whole plane came apart in the air." Conrod added, "It was literally in pieces in the air."

"It looked like he got going too fast," Curtis Donovan said. Donovan, on his rooftop hanging Christmas decorations at the time, wasn't sure if he saw a parachute, but said if he did, it didn't open. "We could see (one of the men) swinging his arms. I saw something dragging behind him, but it never opened."

Lethbridge said Weener was a resident of the Sudan Interior Mission, and according to his wife, had 50 years of flying experience, the Harbor Point News-Sun reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: UNK        Make/Model: ERCO      Description: 415 Ercoupe, Mooney A-2 Aircoupe, F-1 Ai
  Date: 12/13/2008     Time: 1720

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
  City: SEBRING   State: FL   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  ERCOUPE, REGISTRATION UNKNOWN, CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE TWO
  PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED,  NEAR SEBRING, FL

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   2
                 # Crew:   2     Fat:   2     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: ORLANDO, FL  (SO15)                   Entry date: 12/15/2008

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov